The present invention relates to apparatus which supplies workpieces to a pickup point, and more particularly to a delivery system for electrical connectors packaged in trays.
The high speeds of automated assembly equipment appearing throughout industry often require that a continuous supply of workpieces be supplied to a pickup point. In the manufacture of computers, for example, a robot may be employed to pick up card edge connectors and place them on a large printed circuit board or mother board. The card edge connectors so emplaced receive the edges of smaller circuit boards called daughter boards or cards. Conventional delivery systems employ a single column magazine with an escapement which delivers one connector at a time to a pickup point. Such magazines generally hold a few dozen connectors and must be refilled frequently, requiring nearly constant attendance by an operator.